My first paid wedding!!

#2 might have been a good moment, but you missed it. The photo was either a second too soon or two late. The girl's attention is elsewhere and not to the bride.

#3 is just a snapshot of the couple looking down while walking through the snow, why show it?

#4 too much bench and too little couple.

#5-7 has too much contrast. Blown highlights and black shadows. Try reprocessing the RAW files if they were shot as such with possibly lightening the shadows if all else fails.

I've been following this thread. The share forums are designed for people to see the images and comment. The OP is brave enough to share his images and the posters are brave enough to say what they feel. That's actually good.

When I first saw the images, I did not want to comment. I shot my first wedding about 5 years ago, and I was not a pro then. Now I shoot constantly and my work has proven much better as I progressed. For the first time, your work is okay. The images lack depth. But that's something you learn as you earn money, buy better gear, really know your craft. I can go on manual settings and use manual focus to do most of my work now, 5 years later.

There are some here in the forum who shoot weddings and do stunning work with $40K worth of gear and are paid $10K for one day's work. If your clients like your work, even if it is your first one, that's the key. Just keep growing and learning as you go. And buy the gear you need with some of the money you earn. Have a plan and you can have great stuff in a few years to really shine. Also, processing the shots is 1/2 of the work. Skin tones, bright eyes, white teeth, etc. are all part of wedding work. Keep working at it.

4,6, and 7 would make lovely pictures if cropped down, in my opinion. I understand the snowy outdoor background was what you were going for, but it seems a little distracting to me. I agree there is too much bench in #4.

Just my opinion, everybody is different...

g-money wrote in post #7219195
LOL. Ken, I see what you are saying. I guess my view and being new to the game I am learning and may not know any better, is that not all images are award winning and the client does not always look for the things in an image we as photographers do.

Case in point. A couple wedding ago I failed to omit an image I did not want to include and accidently uploaded it. Being lazy I decided I would just leave it there. Well, to my surprise, that image was purchased by most everyone that placed a print order. Why I still don't know.

Culling images is really hard for me cause I find just because I don't think much of a photo the client may love it. I read where many Senior photogs give their clients maybe 25 poses or less to choose from. My last Senior shoot a couple weekends ago I gave the client nearly 100 and had to work to get down to that number...Is that to many? Maybe, but what I keep finding is the images I love is not always the ones the client likes. I constantly see this. I think she ordered maybe two of my favorite ones in her initial order and a couple she ordered were shots I damn near deleted, not cause they were technically wrong I just didn't like the angle or expression etc.

Anyway, that is why I was asking. I really stuggle with throwing out an image unless it is OFF or just a really bad capture that I don't want anyone to see. So thanks for the explanation.

Greg

Not to hijack the thread, but this begs an interesting question: How do you cull and what is best for the client. In the beginning of my practice, I, too included most everything because "WHAT IF THE CLIENT LIKES IT?" And then I began to realize that they are hiring you and your eye. And as I got bolder, my style emerged more and eventually you will begin to see and have a very particular style but you will also instinctively begin to know which images will sell (and you'll leave those in! ) So, maybe I'm being hypocritical. lol.

Congratulations yuriyo! Beautiful shots. I think the toughest part is to get the white balance correct, wedding gown with snow background.

Also, Jayspecs critiques makes a lot of sense, i've learn a lot from his posts.
Thanks Jay!